Finding Nemo

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GameCube owners who tought the days of sloppy ports were over get a reminder that a newer console doesn't always guarantee a better version of a multiplatform title. Released at the same time as the PlayStation 2 incarnation, GameCube's Finding Nemo ironically fails where the platform has traditionally been strong: in the framerate and load time departments. It's a darn shame, too, because Traveller's Tales actually crafted a fun little underwater adventure -- a sort of Ecco the Dolphin meets Crash Bandicoot. Sure, with heavy-hitters like Sonic and Mario, the competition on GameCube is fierce. But Finding Nemo looks and plays different enough to stand out from the rest of the GameCube lineup.

Finding Nemo doesn't entirely break the mold, but it's intelligent, good-looking, and challenging, giving players a near-perfect blend of movie cutscenes and swimmingly good gameplay to tie it all up in a lovely little bow. I had to replay a few levels to get them right, and I did a double take. I thought I would easily breeze through this game. Luckily, it's simply but not entirely easy. Also, I enjoyed the characters, several of the level designs and the puzzles brought it all home.

Gameplay Based on the Pixar Studios movie of the same name, Finding Nemo takes the library of tried-and-true platform elements and descends underwater. If you were a pudgy little plumber on land in the standard platformer, in Travellers' Tales Finding Nemo, you are a squirrelly little Clown Fish trying to navigate the enormity of the world's oceans in search for your lost son, Nemo.

Using a combination of 2D and 2D style techniques, players get the chance to play as little Nemo, his father Marlin, and a friendly, memory-free friendly fish by the name of Dory who helps you out along the way. If you have played the movie-licensed game Tarzan or any of the Crash Bandicoot games, you will instantly feel comfortable playing this. The early levels are filled with training missions that smoothly transition to standard non-training missions without a hitch. Speaking of hitch-less gameplay, the transition from game to movie is technically fluid, while there are almost no visual differences between the two at all. The result is an unending string of events blending happily from game to movie and back again, creating a believable underwater world.

Head-to-Head Available! If you're an IGN Insider you can have access to this exclusive feature, which reveals the surprising differences and flaws of the GameCube version. Screenshots and detailed comparisons await you. Are you sure you're renting or buying right? Play safe with IGN's Head-to-Head series.

Having played far too many THQ kids games, this one comes with a happy little star(fish) by its side. While the game presents players with familiar platform concepts, the hitch is that it's all done in the guise of a fish, which alters the course a bit and provides Travellers' Tales with a slightly different pallet of tools to with which to work.

This game comes recommended to all those who like the movie or have a kid who is patient enough to sit through the long load times. It's colorful and good looking, provides a good healthy level of anti-stupid puzzles and gameplay techniques and it's funny and enjoyable to boot. Not a brilliant game but a nonetheless good, solid one.